Tongai Moyo, Freddie Gwala UK tour off

Tongai Moyo, Freddie Gwala UK tour off

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• Zimra goes to war over musicians' royalties

By Showbiz Reporter

A THREE-STOP tour of the UK by top Zimbabwean singer Tongai Moyo and South Africa’s Freddie Gwala set for this weekend has been cancelled.

Organisers botched the work permit applications for the artists, undoing three months of preparations.

A spokesman for the organisers said they had been let down by someone they had tasked with seeking the work permits.

“We only got the work permits on Wednesday, and it became impossible to secure the visas and flights,” he said.

The Malborough Function Hall in Bradford, one of the venues, had been closed down after a man was knifed to death during a Buju Banton concert, he said.

But Ezra ‘Tshisa’ Sibanda, Gwala’s UK manager, expressed doubts about the organisers’ explanation.

He said: “We signed a contract with these people in April, and gave them the names of the travelling party. We even offered some reputable contacts who could assist with the work permits.

“But they insisted that they had their own people who could sort it out.

“Then last week, I checked with the promoters again to see how far they had gone only to discover the work permits were still not out. They insisted the situation was under control.

“On Monday this week, I phoned the Home Office department which deals with work permits and was told no applications were ever received. They told me the last application for a work permit for Freddie Gwala was last year, when he came to the UK with Zola.

“It became clear at that stage the show would not go on because visas are now applied for in South Africa. Freddie cancelled shows in Zimbabwe, and has been actively rehearsing because he was bringing his band from South Africa.

“It is sad in a way because we had been very impressed by the professionalism and organisation of the promoters in other areas.”

Sibanda said they would consider a legal route to get compensation for a breach of contract.

BELOW IS STATEMENT BY THE PROMOTERS:

“This is a statement with respect to the following,

TONGAI MOYO, FREDDIE GWALA and PLATFORM ONE tour set for this bank holiday weekend in London, Leicester and Bradford.

Due to unforeseen logistical concerns, the named Tour has been CANCELLED. We would like to emphasize that none of the named artists have prompted the cancellation, and that this cancellation is due to irresolvable logistical problems.

The Artists are professionals and have acted as such throughout our (promoters) interactions with them (Artists), thus this is an unfortunate final position.

To members of the public and fans who have made advance bookings, NO FUNDS HAVE BEEN COLLECTED ON OUR PART FROM ALL TICKET OUTLETS, hence they should contact the respective ticketing outlets and collect full refunds on their purchases.

Should members of the public have any problems in retrieving their funds from the Ticketing outlets, they can contact us (the Promoters), Citizen Advice or the Police to advocate on their behalf.

We would like to apologise again to the Artists and to the Public for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of the Tour but it was beyond our control.

FROM

BIG 5 and SHOWTIME Promotions"
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